


So Many Teeth

by KaliopeShipsIt



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Derek Has Issues, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Established Relationship, F/M, M/M, Pack Feels, Scared Derek, Shark Phobia, Stiles is a Good Boyfriend
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-08-03
Updated: 2014-08-03
Packaged: 2018-02-11 12:52:48
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,393
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2068932
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KaliopeShipsIt/pseuds/KaliopeShipsIt
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>During Pack Movie Night Stiles finds out his Sour Wolf is actually a Selachophobia Wolf. </p><p>Comfort cuddling ensues.</p>
            </blockquote>





	So Many Teeth

**Author's Note:**

> Please do not put my stuff on Goodreads. I was not aware that part of my stories were on there and I am not comfortable with having my fan fics circulated out of my control. 
> 
>  
> 
> My Tumblr-Dashboard informed me today that Tyler Hoechlin is afraid of sharks. I, sadly, can commiserate whole-heartedly and, inspired by this tidbit of Tumblr information, I thought to myself, "Self, do you think you can actually write something under 2K and use some of the more embarrassing public moments of your own selachophobic antics for artistic purposes?"
> 
> This is the result ;). 
> 
> Also, I own neither Teen Wolf nor Disney's Finding Nemo.

“I have to find my son.”

It happened so fast that Stiles barely had a chance to react.

One moment they were watching the adorableness that is _Finding Nemo_ , with Derek snuggled against him on the couch, the next Derek is hiding under a blanket, having pulled it over his head so quickly that he almost bruised Stiles’ ribs with his elbow.

“Derek, this is a really cool scene, what are you doing?” he pokes the panting bulk under the blanket while Bruce the shark creepily says “Hello” on the screen, but there is no answer, except a little mewl that sounds like a newborn kitten crying for its mommy.

“Derek?” he tries to coax his werewolf-boyfriend out from under his hiding-place, tugging on the blanket and shaking his head when Derek uses his super strength to hold onto it.

“Name’s _Bruce_ ” the movie-shark continues and Stiles hits pause, because Derek really _is_ missing out on one of the best parts in the movie, which is definitely saying something, since the entire thing basically consists of best parts.

“Why are you under the blanket? Are you cold?” he tries again, frowning when Derek just continues to whimper.

“Derek … are you scared?” Scott asks, sniffing the air with an incredulous frown on his face and inch-by-inch Derek reappears from under the blanket, or rather half an eye, an ear, and some hair appear from where Derek has tugged the blanket aside.

He squints at the big flat-screen and exhales shakily.

The image is paused at the point where you can see Dory, Marlin, and a part of Bruce’s fin, and Derek reluctantly tugs the blanket off of his head, rubbing his cheeks, which are glowing with embarrassment.

“I’m not _scared_ ,” he mumbles, and Stiles would totally find it convincing if the werewolf wasn’t still snuggled against him and he couldn’t totally feel his heart beating so fast that it seems like it’s about to burst out of his chest.

“What’s wrong?” he asks, concern replacing his amusement but Derek just shakes his head, biting his lower lip as he straightens up and deliberately pushes the blanket down to his lap again, his expression determined.

“Nothing’s wrong, let’s just watch this stupid movie, ok?”

He sounds defensive and Stiles waits a beat before he presses ‘play’, hoping that Derek will offer more of an explanation, but Derek is playing Sour Wolf extraordinaire, scowling at the television as if it has personally offended him.

“It’s alright, I understand, why trust a shark, right?” Bruce says on the screen, moving away from the fishes and turning his back towards them, and when he whirls back around and snaps his teeth right in front of them Derek utters a high pitched scream and buries his face into Stiles’ chest, his fingers clutching at the human’s waist so hard Stiles is sure he is going to leave bruises.

He can also feel claws sinking into his skin and this is really not the occasion for any of Derek’s more wolfy expressions of affection.

“Ouch, Derek, holy crap, what the hell!” he exclaims, but Derek just shakes his head into his chest, his hold on Stiles tightening as he continues to whimper, his shoulders tense as a rock while the shark on the screen laughs at the fishes.

“Turn it off, for heaven’s sake!” Lydia’s voice rings out and Stiles stares at Scott in confusion when the Alpha snatches the remote out of his hands and turns the television off.

Derek is still whimpering but he seems to be calming down slowly and Stiles strokes his shoulders comfortingly, not sure what he’s supposed to do with his obviously scared boyfriend.

“Derek? What’s wrong with you?” he asks again and Derek draws a shuddering breath, his claws finally retracting as he tries to speak.

“I … I’m … I have … it’s just … the _teeth_ ,” he gasps and suddenly Stiles feels like the most horrible boyfriend ever, because this is something he _probably_ should have known about.

And by probably he means definitely.

“Derek … are you afraid of sharks?” he asks him and Derek nods into his shirt, the tips of his ears glowing with embarrassment.

“I don’t know why!” he blurts out, still hiding his face against Stiles’ chest and sounding frustrated.

“It doesn’t make sense and I’ve never _met_ a shark but their _eyes_ , and the _teeth_ … they have so many teeth, and I know they don’t even like human meat, but maybe they’ll make an exception for werewolves and I know it’s stupid but …”

Stiles hugs him closer, kissing the top of his head and making shushing sounds.

As a seasoned veteran of panic attacks he’s pretty sure Derek is not afraid of sharks, but downright phobic and suddenly many things make sense in retrospect.

Derek’s refusal to watch the 4-D pirate-themed movie at Six Flags, his mocking of Stiles’ shark-week enthusiasm, his boycott of _Sharknado_ because “It’s plain stupid, I’m not wasting brain cells, Stiles!”, even the way he fidgets whenever they watch a movie that includes a scene under water, it is all clear to him now.

He can still feel Derek’s heart beating where he’s pressed into his side and he sighs, gently grasping his chin and pulling him away so he can look at him.

“Why did you let me force you guys to watch _Finding Nemo_ if you knew this was going to happen? The shark is on the DVD cover, you knew he was coming, right?” he asks and Derek shrugs, his entire face glowing red now.

“Thought I could handle it … I’m not triggered by every shark, it’s just the Great Whites with their black eyes and their ten thousand teeth and … damn it Stiles, it’s a _Disney_ movie! It’s ridiculous!”

Stiles shakes his head as he strokes Derek’s face.

“When I used to get my panic attacks they got triggered by the stupidest, most random things. It’s not ridiculous, it’s a phobia, and you can’t help those.”

“It’s called selachophobia,” Lydia comments helpfully and Derek nods, rubbing his eyes jerkily.

“I know. I tried to Google it once, back in New York. Only for _some_ reason Google pulls up shark pictures when you try to search for ‘Shark Phobia’ and I had to wait for Laura to come back home and close the browser before I could go near the computer again. She made fun of me for days afterwards – the Big Bad Wolf with the huge teeth being afraid of the shark-picture, but I just can’t help it!”

Stiles clucks his tongue, pressing a kiss to Derek’s temple, which is still clammy with sweat.

“I’m just going to go ahead and declare your loft a shark-week-free zone this summer. And no one here is going to make fun of you, _right_?”

The last is directed to the rest of the pack with a threatening glare – well, as threatening as Stiles can muster while still having a big ball of shaking werewolf clinging to him and nuzzling Stiles’ neck to calm himself down – and their pack mates hold up their hands in defense.

“Dude, I thought snakes lived in the toilet and would come up to bite me in the butt when I least expected it for _years_ ,” Liam says, grinning sheepishly, and Kira shrugs, cuddling against Scott on the armchair as she informs them that all clowns are evil, grinning happily when her besotted boyfriend promptly agrees with her.

Lydia is, of course, fearless as always – or just really good at evading werewolf lie detection when she claims to have never had a phobia – and Malia refuses to share, arguing that you never let anybody know your weaknesses.

Derek smiles one of his rare genuine smiles, relief evident in his face that no one wants to make fun of him and when Lydia puts the definitely shark-free _The Notebook_ into the DVD-player he relaxes against Stiles, drawing idle circles on his chest as his breathing finally returns to normal.

There are so many phobias Derek could have, ranging from fire to intimacy, and Stiles is fiercely glad that his phobia is actually something irrational.

And if, from that day on, he is spoilered for every single movie they watch because he secretly reads up the plot summaries online to make sure they don’t include a shark then well, nobody has to know.

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you enjoyed it, comments and kudos are, as always, appreciated.
> 
> As for my final public service announcement: Some phobias make no sense whatsoever, but we shouldn't make fun of them ever. 
> 
> (Also, dear environmentally-inclined and shark-loving readers, I don't hate sharks and I am aware of their place in the ecosystem and all that I just ... hide under blankets when they show up).


End file.
